Martian Successor Nadesico
,Martian Successor Nadesico is a 1996 anime television series created by XEBEC. Synopsis The Earth, its moon and its Martian colonies are under alien attack, but the war against the "Jovian lizards" has, so far, been nothing short of a series of disasters. Disgusted by the incompetence of Earth's military, the independent arms manufacturer Nergal builds its own space battleship and plans to launch a desperate offensive to save humanity. But due to a shortage of trained soldiers, they've assembled the most unorthodox crew to ever launch into orbit! With a pacifist cook-turned-unwilling mecha pilot and a ditsy admiral's daughter in command, can this unprecedented gathering of geeks, misfits and anime fans prevail against the Jovian menace?Official English Website Plot The series takes place in the year 2196. Earth is at war with a race of alien invaders called the "Jovian Lizards". A company called Nergal designs a space battleship, the ND-001 Nadesico. While the ship is powerful and its crew consists of the top civilian experts in their fields, these individuals tend to have "some slight personality disorders".Episode 1 The primary protagonist, Akito Tenkawa, is a young man with a mysterious past. Once a resident of Mars' Utopia colony, he escaped its destruction by the Jovian Lizards and arrived on Earth, with no memory of how he got there but a terrible fear of the invaders. He hates fighting and only wants to be a . However, he is constantly called on to act as a pilot of one of the Nadesico's Aestivalis, humanoid combat robots. While on board the Nadesico, Akito has more problems to deal with than just the Jovians; nearly all the female members of the crew, especially the vessel's captain Yurika Misumaru, seem to be head over heels in love with him, though all he wants to do is cook and watch his favorite anime, Gekigangar III. Production The series features an energetic juxtaposition of comedy and drama, as the characters engage in lighthearted antics in between facing the drama of war. Many of the characters are themselves anime fans, and there is often comparison between the campy, sanitized war of the Gekigangar III and the much harsher reality that the crew of the Nadesico faces. The show intentionally includes a number of science fiction anime clichés, including and invaders, but turns these concepts on their heads by the end of the series through a number of plot twists. There are many anime references, particularly Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato (The name Nadesico is a play on the phrase " ", which represents the traditional Japanese ideal of femininity, and also the name of ).Martian Successor Nadesico V1 (2*) One of the characters was a before joining the crew (and in fact is a parody of seiyū ),Character Profile: Megumi Raynard another is a who likes to draw her own , and a third is an who bases his entire life on Gekigangar III. In an episode late in the series, the ship holds an anime convention complete with a viewing marathon of Gekigangar, people engaged in , and tie-in merchandising. Another episode makes a parody of the Super Dimension Fortress Macross, as the crew celebrates a Miss Nadesico contest to decide a new captain and public figurehead, where all the female crew members participate. The contest includes a swimsuit competition and singing.Martian Successor Nadesico Essential Anime Vol. #3 The Gekigangar anime show is in fact an homage and parody of many mecha anime of the 1970s and 1980s, most particularly the / collaboration .Martian Successor Nadesico (Page 4) The battles between Earth and planetary colonies featured throughout the show is a reference to , while the assortment of odd-ball characters on the ship who prefer to choose their own battles, rather than take sides, is a nod to . In addition, writers from previous popular sci-fi mecha shows occasionally get announced in teasers for various episodes of Nadesico. Media Anime The Martian Successor Nadesico anime was directed by Tatsuo Sato and produced by , , and Yomiko Advertising. The series aired on the and TV Tokyo from November 1, 1996 to March 24, 1997. Martian Successor Nadesico was licensed for released by ADV Films. The company released the series originally on 12 tapes. Later, the series was released on a total of six DVDs. On September 24, 2002, ADV Films released a containg all of the DVDs entitled Martian Successor Nadesico - Complete Chronicles. and, on January 1, 2008, a collection of all the episodes entitled Martian Successor Nadesico - Perfect Collection. At 2011, had announced that they have re-licensed the series, following ADV's closure in 2009. They will re-release the series, along with the movie and the Gekiganger III OVA in 2012.Right Stuf/Nozomi Adds More Dirty Pair, Gasaraki, Nadesico Martian Successor Nadesico's opening song is You Get to Burning by Yumi Matsuzawa. The main ending song is by Houko Kuwashima, with episode 26 featuring Itsuka...Shinjite by Matsumura Kazumi as its ending. Manga OVA A Gekigangar III compilation OVA was also released. Movie A sequel movie called The Prince of Darkness that takes place several years after the manga series. It won the Grand Prix in 1998. Video games Four games based on the series were released in Japan. The first game, released for the in 1997, is Martian Successor Nadesico. It is a game with a few mecha elements included. A second game, also for the Sega Saturn, was released in the following year, Martian Successor Nadesico: The Blank of 3 Years. It is an interactive story of the events which occurred in between the TV series and the movie. Released on the in 1999, Martian Successor Nadesico: The Mission, continues the story from Prince of Darkness. Finally, a variant game was released for the , Martian Successor Nadesico: Ruriruri Mahjong. Nadesico also appears in games in the and series, where the setting is combined with other mecha series' such as , , and .Mobile Battleship Nadesico, The GamesSuper Robot Wars Reversal Gallery Martian Successor Nadesico (1996) - Open-ended Trailer Martian Successor Nadesico Opening 720p Martian Successor Nadesico Opening 720p Reception There have been mixed reviews to the series, although most reviews have been positive. One review written when the series was released on DVD gave it average ratings, commenting that whilst the show was dubbed into English poorly, it commented positively on the use of characters saying, "Despite his heroic calling as a robot pilot, Akito is remarkably approachable—after all, what could be more down-to-earth than a cook? Yurika, the world's most unlikely starship captain, may seem like a troublesome ditz at first, but demonstrates resolve and emotional depth as she learns the art of leadership. The characters may be billed as goofballs, but they also provide some of the most touching moments in the show. The Nadesico mindset shows that heroism and self-sacrifice are still respectable virtues, and that nobody needs to hear whining about why you can't or won't pilot a giant robot."Martian Successor Nadesico: Essential Anime DVD 1 Other reviews have been generally positive, with one saying, "Nadesico is one of those rare series that has something for everyone. Comedy, action, romance, drama...you name it, this series has it (well, almost). What's even more astonishing is that Nadesico keeps everything tied together in a neat little coherent package, so much so that you'll hardly even notice the blend of genres. It's a pretty cool little package, too."Martian Successor Nadesico Series Overview Another review praised the English dub, saying "I first watched this show multiple times in Japanese, but eventually gave the English dub a try and found I loved it. The cast is excellent, with Jennifer Earhart's Yurika being especially noteworthy. Even minor characters, such as a Jovian pilot played by Jason Douglas, give great performances. His reading of 'If only the humans appreciated life as we do, I would not have to kill so many of them' is brilliant."AnimeonDVD.com review Martian Successor Nadesico Anime Essentials Vol. 2 The series quickly became popular. The film won the Animage Grand Prix award in 1998. In other polls conducted by Animage in the same year, Akito was voted the ninth most "Favorite Male Character Of The Year", Ruri Hoshino was voted second and Yurika Misumaru eighth most "Favorite Female Characters Of The Year" and the TV series was vote the third "Favorite Anime Of The Year".Anime News Service - July 1998 Anime News In 2005 reported that plans for Nadesico 2 were scrapped, citing an entry on director Tatsuo Sato's blog.Stellvia 2 Cancelled Trivia The name of the series is a portmanteau on two very influential science fiction anime series. comes from the inventor of the real robot genre and comes from . References Category:Television Series